“I was definitely surprised,” Conrad said. “I still am. It’s still sinking in. Last year wasn’t that great, and I was just hoping to do better.”
Conrad went 5-1 for the Division I state champions, striking out 115 in 752/3 innings while compiling a 1.20 ERA. Those numbers made him an easy choice for the JournalNews All-Area Pitcher of the Year award.
“My expectations for him are high anyway, so I wasn’t really surprised,” East coach Ray Hamilton said. “But I was surprised by how dominant he was against really good people. That was the thing for me. He was doing it against some of the better teams in our league and in the state.”
Conrad, who has college scholarship offers from Indiana, Ohio and Toledo, blanked Clayton Northmont for seven tense innings of a scoreless regional semifinal game the Thunderhawks eventually won 1-0 in 12.
And he shut down a hot-hitting Grove City squad in the state semifinals, allowing just one earned run in seven innings.
“I only had two pitches last year, and neither was very good because I was fighting a back injury,” said Conrad, who still went 3-2 with a 1.80 ERA his sophomore season. “This year, I added a four-seam fastball and a circle change-up.”
Conrad worked with private pitching coach Greg Gunderson on the change-up all offseason. Conrad didn’t rely on it early, even while beginning the season with 28 consecutive scoreless innings, but as the season went on, his confidence in the pitch climbed.
Conrad said he threw it a season-high 25 times in the regional semifinal win against Northmont.
Conrad said he thought he might get one final opportunity to pitch in the state championship game. But he’s glad it didn’t come to that. As East starter Evan Hills’ pitch count climbed and Perrysburg started chipping away at a 7-0 lead in the title game, Conrad headed down to the bullpen to warm up.
“On one hand, I wanted to be a part of the win,” he said. “But Evan deserved to win that game and finish it.”
Hills finished off the Yellow Jackets, and after that all that was left for Conrad to do was celebrate with his teammates.
“It was a great moment, a great experience,” he said. “I still can’t believe it really happened.”
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